The winners of DMDM
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This is how they look like - the first winners of the Danish Championship of Digital Media, DMDM 2008 for young people under 27 years. Five winners of TEKNE and TEKNE Produktions first nationwide competition in the use of digital technology for art and cultural purposes was chosen at an event in Musikhuset in Aarhus 19th June.
Animation, sound, scenography, video and music
Stories, Relationships and Interfaces; that was the three broad categories, TEKNE and TEKNE Produktion had cosen as a frame for the participation in DMDM 2008. The competition was launched in February, and by 18th of June the jury with film producer Vibeke Windeløv as chairman had appointed the five finalists. They were qualified to fight on two main prizes of 20,000 danish kroner and three smaller prizes of 5,000 danish kroner. An animation, digital scenography, computer visualized music, a piece of video art and an artwork of sound were in the finals, which was settled by a major event in Aarhus Musikhus 19th June.
The winners of the two main prizes:
• Soren Bendt Pedersen, 25 years, with animation movie HUM - an 8 min. long animation about a robot with a head designed as an old-fashioned gramophone record player. The robot has been left alone in an old garage and decides to breathe life into his old friend, the Speaker facility. HUM has earlier this year won the price for Best cgi animation by the English animation festival Stoke Your Fires. Soren Bendt Pedersen is working in London at Framestore. You can see more images and get more information about HUM here
• Soren Lyngsø Knudsen, 24 years, (aka Vectral) with a live recording with Vectral from 2007, demonstrating the software program Graphx, which is created by the artist. Graphx generate visuals in the context of live concerts. Shapes are created by real-time-generated 3D graphics, which responds to audio input. An experiment with Graphx from 2007 can be seen here above. See and hear examples of Vectrals music and visuals on vectral.dk and the artist’s Myspace-profil as well.
The winners of the three prizes of 5000 Dkr each:
• Tobias Ebsen, 26 years, with Running Sculptures. The artist was responsible for the digital scenography, when the project Aarhus By Light presented the dance performance Running Sculptures in collaboration with Koreografisk Center Archauz and dance company Mancopy. It was performed at the front facade of Musikhuset Aarhus, and Tobias Ebsens work is the interactive software that was used in and during Running Sculptures. A recording of the show can be seen above. See and read more on aarhusbylight.dk
• Jonas Rasmussen Kirkegaard, 25 years, with Tefernol Beta-D-Speaker. A work of sound art, dealing with the interface between the digital representation of physical sound and audible sound. The work is a physical structure that consists of eight hanging iron plates in different shapes and sizes, fitted with “sound bugs” that transfers sound frequencies of physical objects - in this case iron plates. Listen to Jonas R. Kirkegaard’s music and read more about Tefernol Beta-D-Speaker of the artist’s Myspace profile here and at jonasR.com
• Julian Juhlin, 20 years, with the video installation Inbox. In an intimate and dream-like space the viewer sees a movie that has neither any beginning nor end. The film consists of a number of raw text messages from the artist’s inbox on his cell phone. The audience gets an insight into fragments of conversations and must guess how he and his contacts on the phone are as human beings in real life. The film gives an insight into the many relationships that people form and participate in.
The jury said …
About HUM and Soren Pedersen Bendt: To tell a story with a box of frightened lamps and light bulps, a little stiff turntable with blinking eyes and an old amplifier and get us all to laugh and enjoy it - that is skill and talent.
About Graphx and Soren Lyngsø Knudsen/Vectral: Vectral has electronic music in his blood. The music merges with the computer-generated images and creates a truly artistic whole.
About Running Sculptures and Tobias Ebsen: With a playful and cocky approach and a sense of both the temporal extent and the media, Tobias Ebsen conquers the space and fearlessly stages his intrusive work, so nobody is left untouched.
About Tefernol Beta-D-Speaker and Jonas R. Kirkegaard: You have to listen carefully. Doing so, you will discover a rich and intense universe worth listening to. The work holds a relentless and liberating impact and originality.
About the Inbox and Julian Juhlin: The work is a good example that digital art can also experiment with simple technology that is embedded in our daily lives.
At the prize award spoke director of Alexandra Instituttet Ole Lehrmann Madsen, jury chairman Vibeke Windeløv and the alderman of culture in the municipality of Aarhus, Flemming Knudsen. The alderman pointed out, among other things, that the municipal support for investment in digital media is rooted in the cultural political plan of action for the years 2008-2011.
The jury:
Vibeke Windeløv, film producer (President)
Soren Pold, associate professor, Center for Digital Aesthetics Research (CfDÆF), University of Aarhus
Wayne Siegel, Professor, the Danish Institute for Electronic Music (DIEM), the Royal Academy of Music
Morten Lervig, Head of department at Center for Advanced Visualization and Interaction (CAVI), Aarhus University and of TEKNE Produktion, Alexandra Instituttet
Anne Sophie Witzke, Project Manager, TEKNE - Network for digital arts and experiences, Alexandra Instituttet
Read the jury justifications in full length and more on the premium award at the championships own webpage DMDM.dk